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Petzl Grigri 2 Belay Device

Over the past decade or so the original Petzl Grigri has arguably been the most popular belay device for sport climbers throughout the world. But, whilst the rest of the climbing manufacturing world continued with regular advancements in technology, producing ever lighter equipment, the Grigri remained unchanged since its launch around 20 years ago. As climbers, the importance of ‘power to weight’ ratio is obvious, so it was inevitable that, like all other climbing equipment, ropes would also become lighter, and therefore thinner.

We’ve been climbing with single ropes, with a diameter of less than 10mm (the recommended minimum for the original Grigri), for over 10 years now, so it’s a bit of a surprise is that it took Petzl as long as it did to launch the Grigri 2, but at least it’s finally here, and is now a welcome addition to many a sport climbers rack.

The Grigri 2 works has a working range with ropes from 8.9mm to 11mm, with those between 9.4mm to 10.3mm falling within the ‘optimum use’ range. Whist it can be safely used with significantly thinner ropes than the original, it also works at least as smoothly as the original when using fatter ropes, making the need for the original obsolete - aside from the many people who already have one…

Unfortunately, like the original, there is still some ‘grabbyness’ when paying out older, fatter ropes. Overall, the new design allows a smoother action, and is therefore safer than the original when lowering, paying out rope or abseiling.

Some friends have commented that they find the handle a little small compared to the one on the original. I can only use three fingers on the new handle, as oppose to four on the original but I can genuinely say that, as yet, I haven’t noticed any difference when using it.

Weighing only 185g the Grigri 2 is around 20% lighter than the original, and is noticeably smaller. For the fashion conscious among us, as well as being available in the original grey, the Grigri 2 is also available in either blue or orange.

As with many other things in life in this day and age, it isn’t cheap - with a RRP of £63 – but for anyone who is after an autolocking belay device for single ropes, the Grigri 2 is likely to take over from its predecessor as the most popular choice on the market.